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    About this Episode

    Our inability to make decisions is wasting our time, keeping us acting from a place of fear and stuck in a life we don't want! It's also not entirely our fault and often stems from unconscious mechanisms, neuroticism and fears that we haven't recognised. In today's episode we break down: 

    • Why you struggle to make decisions
    • The consequences of our chronic indecisiveness 
    • Perfection and indecision 
    • Choice overload 
    • A fear of failure 
    • How to overcome your indecisiveness using the 80/20 rule
    • The 'trusted advisor' method 

    Listen now! 

    Follow Jemma on Instagram: @jemmasbeg 

    Follow the podcast on Instagram: @thatpsychologypodcast

     

     

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    🔑 Key Takeaways

    • Trust yourself to make decisions, even if it means giving up some possibilities, for personal growth, relationships, and career choices. Essential vitamins and minerals from Nature's Way Alive Women's Multivitamin Gummies, financial tools from Intuit, hassle-free hair removal from Neers, and tooth protection from Pronamel support overall well-being.
    • Recognize and address underlying fears to make decisions confidently, improving overall well-being and life satisfaction
    • Indecisiveness can lead to decision fatigue and decreased decision quality, but it's not the only factor affecting life satisfaction. Ambivalence, or uncertainty, plays a role as well. Finding a balance between indecisiveness and impulsiveness can lead to more thoughtful choices and improved well-being.
    • Recognize the underlying causes of indecisiveness and take steps to overcome them, such as setting clear priorities, seeking information, and trusting oneself to make the best decision possible.
    • Too many options can cause anxiety, indecisiveness, and poor decision-making. Understanding this phenomenon can help us make more informed and confident choices.
    • Overcoming indecisiveness requires acknowledging fears, practicing self-compassion, and understanding that perfection is unattainable.
    • Identify anxieties, indecisiveness, and lack of confidence's causes. Instead of quick fixes, tackle underlying issues for financial security, hair health, and overall wellness.
    • Strive for 80% perfection while accepting 20% room for error to prevent getting stuck on minor details and focus on important aspects. Distinguish between big and small decisions and remember that every outcome is generally okay and we have the power to improve our circumstances.
    • Even with uncertainty, we must make choices and learn from mistakes. Imagining worst-case scenarios can help reduce fear, and careful advisors and intuition can guide decisions. Remember, mistakes are opportunities for growth, and we're capable of reversing most.
    • Small daily decisions have a significant impact on our lives, and it's important to make conscious choices to keep moving forward. Mistakes are inevitable, but we can learn from them and reverse decisions if needed.
    • Women can invest in their health and wellness with a 10% discount on Nature's Way Alive Women's Multivitamin Gummies through June 30th, providing essential nutrients for skin and nail health in a convenient gummy format.

    📝 Podcast Summary

    Making decisions in our 20s is important but can be overwhelming

    Making decisions in our 20s can be overwhelming, but it's important to take action and trust ourselves. Nature's Way Alive Women's Multivitamin Gummies can help women feel their best with essential vitamins and minerals. Intuit financial platforms provide tools for managing money and living financially healthy lives. Neers offers a hassle-free alternative to shaving with delicious-smelling hair removal creams. Pronamel toothpaste and mouthwash protect and repair tooth enamel. Chronic indecisiveness can be mentally draining, but it's essential to make decisions and move forward, even if it means giving up some possibilities. Whether it's career choices, relationships, or personal growth, every decision we make contributes to our journey in our 20s.

    Fear of mistakes and disappointments can lead to chronic indecisiveness

    Chronic indecisiveness can negatively impact our sense of agency, mastery, and overall well-being. Indecisiveness often stems from an unconscious fear of making mistakes or disappointing ourselves and others. This fear can lead to a toxic cycle of contemplation and procrastination, wasting valuable time and opportunities. According to research, individuals who score high on indecisiveness scales tend to report lower levels of life satisfaction. To break free from this cycle, it's essential to acknowledge and address the underlying fears and trust our intuition to make decisions confidently.

    The Impact of Indecisiveness on Decision Making

    Feeling indecisive is linked to a lack of control in one's life and the overwhelming number of decisions we face daily. This can lead to decision fatigue, where the quality of our decisions decreases due to mental exhaustion. Indecisiveness isn't always negative, as it can lead to more thoughtful choices, but it's important to find a balance between being decisive and impulsive. Additionally, research suggests that it's not indecisiveness itself that affects life satisfaction, but rather ambivalence – feeling uncertain or unsure about what we want. Understanding these factors can help us make better decisions and improve our overall well-being.

    Fear of failure, uncertainty, apathy, and choice overload can cause indecisiveness

    Indecisiveness can stem from various reasons, including fear of failure, uncertainty, and even apathy. Fear of failure often leads to paralysis, as we try to avoid potential regret by predicting the future and seeking reassurance from others. Uncertainty can cause us to catastrophize and focus excessively on worst-case scenarios, leading to inaction. Apathy, on the other hand, can demonstrate a lack of care for one's future. Furthermore, the abundance of choices in today's world can contribute to choice overload, making it harder to make decisions. It's essential to recognize these underlying causes and take steps to overcome them, such as setting clear priorities, seeking information, and trusting oneself to make the best decision possible.

    The paradox of too many choices

    Having too many options can paradoxically make us feel more restricted and increase our anxiety rather than providing a sense of freedom. This phenomenon, known as choice overload, can lead us to make less informed decisions or even avoid making decisions altogether. Our brains perceive more options as more risk, and we may feel that with each choice, we're closing more doors than opening new ones. Indecisiveness can also stem from a lack of confidence in our decision-making abilities, which can be influenced by our upbringing and experiences. Ultimately, this can result in a constant mental back-and-forth and hinder our ability to fully embrace opportunities. To mitigate this, some people may intentionally limit their options or make easier decisions, but this approach may not lead to the most informed or satisfying choices. Understanding the psychology behind choice overload and indecisiveness can help us become more mindful of our decision-making processes and develop strategies to make more confident and effective choices.

    The fear of making mistakes fuels indecisiveness

    Our indecisiveness can stem from a lack of trust in our desires due to fear of consequences, as well as the interconnected traits of perfectionism and anxiety. Perfectionism fuels our hypervigilance to potential mistakes, making decision-making a lengthy process. Anxiety amplifies this by focusing our attention on what could go wrong. Together, these traits create a cycle of overthinking and analysis paralysis, preventing us from taking action towards our goals. To break free from this pattern, it's essential to confront our fears, learn self-compassion, and understand that perfection is unattainable. Embrace the fact that mistakes and imperfections are part of the learning process. By acknowledging this, we can begin to make decisions more confidently and effectively.

    Addressing the root causes for confidence

    Accepting failure and moving forward requires identifying the root causes of our anxieties, indecisiveness, and lack of confidence. Instead of using band-aid fixes like impulsivity or forcing ourselves into decisions, we need to address the underlying issues. For example, when it comes to our finances, having a solid financial plan with the help of platforms like Intuit can turn anxiety into confidence. Similarly, addressing internal factors like stress and hormone fluctuations when dealing with hair thinning can lead to visibly thicker, healthier hair with Neutrophil. And taking care of our health, such as using Nature's Way Alive Women's Multivitamin Gummies, can help us feel our best every day. Overall, it's essential to address the root causes before trying to solve the problem. By doing so, we can move forward with confidence and resilience.

    Embrace 80% perfection and accept 20% error

    Focusing too much on perfection and fear of failure can hinder progress and lead to indecisiveness. The 80-20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, can help by allowing for 80% perfection and accepting 20% room for error. This approach can help prevent getting stuck on minor details and enable a focus on the most important aspects of a project or decision. Additionally, it's essential to distinguish between big and small decisions, with the latter having less impact on our lives and allowing for more impulsive choices. Remembering that every outcome generally turns out to be okay and that we have the ability to make our current circumstances better, regardless of past decisions, can also help reduce stress and anxiety.

    Making Choices and Overcoming Fear

    Life moves forward, and we can't go back to make decisions or fix mistakes once we reach a certain age. Therefore, it's essential to take action and make choices, even if we're uncertain. Mistakes are part of the learning process and can lead to growth. To help overcome fear and indecisiveness, it can be helpful to imagine the worst-case scenario and realize that it's not as bad as we think. We should also choose our advisors carefully and make decisions based on their input, as well as our own intuition. Lastly, we should remember that our choices, while significant to us, are not life-altering in the grand scheme of things. We are capable of reversing or fixing most mistakes, and we should go easy on ourselves.

    The impact of daily choices on our lives

    The importance of decisions should not be overestimated. Small, daily choices have a significant impact on our lives, and we have the capacity to make good ones. It's okay to be indecisive and make mistakes, as we have the ability to reverse decisions and learn from them. The future is unpredictable, and trying to control every decision can lead to unexpected outcomes. So, go easy on yourself and focus on the present, making conscious choices to keep moving forward. Remember, there is no one best choice, and it's the small daily decisions that truly matter. Additionally, taking care of ourselves, such as protecting our teeth with Pronamel toothpaste and mouthwash, is essential for our overall well-being.

    Support Skin and Nail Health with Alive Women's Multivitamin Gummies

    Nature's Way Alive women's multivitamin gummies offer a convenient solution for women looking to support their skin and nail health. With a delicious gummy format, these multivitamins provide essential nutrients that help women feel their best. By visiting naturesway.com/Gemma10 and using the code Gemma10 at checkout, women can enjoy a 10% discount on these multivitamins through June 30th. This offer is an excellent opportunity for women to invest in their health and wellness, making it an easy and affordable addition to their daily routine. By prioritizing their health, women can feel confident and radiant, inside and out.

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